A Marvellous Summer
by lilkawa
Summary: Frederick Wentworth didn't want to spend the summer with his sister in Somerset; in fact if he never went back there it would be too soon
1. Chapter 1

_Persuasion_ doesn't belong to me.

 **A Marvellous Summer**

Frederick Wentworth shook his head in disgust. It was just his luck. He'd been distracted… he hadn't been watching the road and he'd run over the broken glass. He hit the steering wheel and reached for his phone. He remembered belatedly that he hadn't charged his phone and his battery was down.

He opened the door and got out to assess the damage – he'd lost two tyres. The guy at the rent-a-car service had assured him that the car was in prime condition and he'd been especially proud of the new tyres. Frederick kicked the flat tyres, so much for new tyres. Granted, the rent-a-car guy hadn't factored in there being broken glass on the road.

Sophy and her husband, Rick, would be wondering where he was. He was supposed to have arrived at their home an hour ago but Frederick had stopped in Taunton for a while. He wasn't so keen on returning to Bishops Lydeard and he'd told his sister repeatedly. In fact, if it had been up to him he'd never have returned to Somerset again. To make it worse, Sophy and Rick were staying at the Elliot cottages – one of the grand cottages that were part of the Elliot houses that they owned and run in the county – and the place he'd met Anne Elliot.

He'd been mad about Anne and he'd thought that she was mad about him too, she'd certainly acted like she'd been, they'd spent hours together and she had agreed to marry him, only to break it off the next morning because he wasn't good enough for her family. And to make it worse she hadn't had the guts to do it herself, instead she'd had her mother-figure do it, and Mrs. Russell had done a very good job of making him feel like the worst form of scum. She'd hinted that he was gold-digger and a thief.

'Stop it,' Frederick told himself, 'don't go back there.' He didn't need to let her mess up his life again, he had moved on, he was now a successful writer and frankly he was too good for her. Not that it mattered; Anne Elliot was probably married, with a life of her own and not wasting any time thinking about him. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he forget Anne Elliot and move on with his life?

He was so taken up with his thoughts; he didn't know that there was anyone else on the road until he heard a voice call out cheerfully, "need any help?"

000

Anne Elliot was in her office, going over the weekend programme, when her older sister, Elizabeth, burst into the room. The Elliots run a semi-successful property chain and Anne was the business head of the family. They had been going through a rough patch a few years ago but they were now getting back on their feet – Anne had taken over the running from the company from her father and Elizabeth.

"There was some sort of accident on the road," Elizabeth said, "some of the glass swans fell out of the decorators' van, you have to go and check it out."

"I'm busy," Anne said.

"The road has to be cleared," Elizabeth told her, "we have important guests coming here today."

"Call Billy," Anne said. Billy was one of the maintenance guys who worked at the Elliot house.

"I already sent him to town," Elizabeth said, "I have run out of water and other things I can't live without."

"Frances just brought you water the other day," Anne reminded her. Frances was Elizabeth's assistant. "And what do you need all that imported water for?"

"You know I can't drink the water here," Elizabeth complained.

Anne shook her head. She didn't have time to deal with this right now. She thought of getting Charles, Mary's husband, to go out and sort it out but he and Mary, her younger sister, were in charge of the kitchen and she didn't want to disturb them, the house was hosting two important weddings that afternoon. "Have you at least seen to the arrangements in the gardens?" she asked her sister.

"Frances will see to them," Elizabeth said, "I'm going to have my hair done."

Anne shut down her computer and stood up. It would be no use asking her father to take care of it either, he was worse than Elizabeth. She would do it herself.

She got the old land rover out of the garage and drove to the road. She had hoped that no one had been out on the road yet but she was dismayed to see that a car had already had trouble. She could see the driver – male – inspecting the damage to his car. Even from the distance, Anne, could see that he'd punctured two tyres and wasn't happy at all.

000

Frederick turned towards the voice, a voice he'd been thinking of for years, a voice he'd both hoped to hear or never hear again. He was probably imagining it. She wasn't here, he had made her up. "Anne," he whispered.

Anne stared at him in shock. She must be dreaming. It couldn't be Frederick Wentworth and yet it was, she knew it was, she'd known for weeks, ever since his sister and her husband had rented one of the cottages that were part of the Elliot houses but when his arrival kept being postponed she had decided that he probably wasn't going to show up. But here he was.

"Frederick." She said.

"I'm surprised you still remember my name," he said.

"You remember mine," she told him, "why would I forget yours?"

"You said something about help," he reminded her. He knew he was being rude but he couldn't help himself.

"Yeah," she nodded, "let's get you out of here."

"What about the car?" Frederick asked. "I can't just leave it here."

"I'll call Henry at the rent-a-car," Anne said, "he'll pick it up."

"What about the glass on the road?"

"I'll sort it out," Anne told him. "I'll sort everything out."

"You were always good at sorting things out," Frederick said.

"Everyone has to be good at something, right?" she shrugged.

"I meant that as a compliment," Frederick said, and he had. Anne was very good at sorting things out.

They drove in silence to Sophy and Rick's cottage.

"I see you've met Anne," Sophy said. She had wanted her brother to meet Anne, Anne was one of the most sensible young women Sophy had ever met and she thought she'd be good for her brother.

"Yes," Frederick replied, "she picked me up."

"Good," Sophy said, "we're having drinks with them later tonight. Then you'll really get a chance to know her."

"Why?"

"I think it would be good for you to get your head of your books, much as I enjoy them, and meet real people."

"I meet real people," Frederick told her. He met real people all the time.

"She means eligible, marriageable women," Rick said.

'She's not married,' Frederick hadn't known that he'd said that aloud until his sister turned to him smiling. "She's single." She turned to her husband, "see Rick, you said he wouldn't be interested and I'm happy to see that you were wrong."

Frederick couldn't believe it. Anne Elliot was single. What does it matter? He asked himself. It wasn't as if Anne had seemed interested in him at all, and she had rejected him once.

000


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

 **Thanks Miriam1 for all your help.**

000

Frederick stood near the swimming pool. He had tried to refuse – in fact he had refused thrice – but Sophy was having none of it. Frederick had to attend the impromptu gathering or she would stay in with him.

So, Frederick was forced to mix and mingle with 'real' people, as Sophy was calling it. He didn't understand why she was always making him go out. He had friends, okay one real friend, Harry, but surely that was plenty and he'd just been staying with Harry and his family for the past few weeks.

He had a home, a flat, in London, one that he'd just bought. Before buying that flat he'd been living in long stay hotels, refusing to put down roots. It was easier for him, because when he was researching a character he tended to immerse himself fully into the character's life, and so he was constantly moving from one place to another, in addition to the various book signings and promotional events which required his being on the move.

Two months ago, however, Frederick had begun a new story centered around a young female police sergeant. It was outside his normal range; he usually wrote about fantastical beings set in a fictitious world, but it had come to him one day as he was watching _Miss Marple_ film adaptation on TV and he'd quickly pulled out his tablet, and began to see Melinda Sett come alive before him. He had tried to put off the visits to the Harvilles and his sister, citing the new book and new flat but both Harry and Sophy had refused to accept his reasons, so he'd spent a week with the Harvilles and was set to spend at least six weeks with Sophy and Rick in Bishops Lydeard.

"You're supposed to be mixing with the other guests."

Frederick looked up and saw Rick standing next to him.

"I just needed a few minutes alone," Frederick said.

"It's good you had those," Rick said, "because I have it on good authority that that's about to change."

"What do you mean?"

Before Rick could answer, Frederick saw two young women, girls really, half-running towards them.

"I can't believe it," one, a blond, said.

"I honestly thought Charles was having us on," the other, black-haired, answered.

"You're really him, aren't you?" the blond girl asked him. "You're FJ Wentworth."

Frederick smiled at her. "Frederick, please."

"I love you," the blond girl continued. "I really do. You're an absolute genius."

"Thank you." Frederick was blushing inspite of himself.

Charles Musgrove, whom he'd met earlier, joined them and introduced the girls. "These are my little sisters, Louisa and Henrietta."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Frederick told them.

"Enid is such a great character," Louisa told him, "most of my friends think she's conniving, but I love her."

"Yes," Henrietta agreed, "Enid is a very well written character."

"Thank you," Frederick said again.

"You must have based her on someone," Louisa said, "she's too good not to be based on someone real."

Frederick shook his head but didn't answer. It was a question he'd been asked many times before. Enid Thatchit was one of the main characters in four of his books, a very cunning and exasperating woman who did whatever was necessary, although sometimes not necessary, to get things done. The Thatchits were one family among survivors on a deserted continent that was overrun with pirates and overlords who were trying to take over the planet. Enid was the middle child in the family of three who used her wits and whatever else was available to save them; most of her methods were underhand unlike her sisters'. He'd never admitted it to anyone, not that they'd ever asked, but Enid was modeled on Anne Elliot. He had done it as a means to get her out of his system and he'd thought that no one would like her at all, but his editor had loved her and almost everyone who read the Ergoen series loved Enid Thatchit.

"Enid's great," Henrietta argued, "but Simone's better."

The sisters turned to each other. "You only say that because Simone's pretty," Louisa argued, "but everybody knows that Enid's the star."

"The books are about the Thatchits," Henrietta said, "but Enid gets more time, so we get to know more about her and understand her motives, but that doesn't make her better." She turned to Frederick. "Obviously you like Enid, but have you ever considered writing a series about Simone Thatchit?"

"No," Frederick shook his head. Angela, his editor, had asked him that once but Frederick had refused to even consider it. He was getting tired of Ergoen with all its battles for water, zinc and manganese oxide, which they needed to survive, which is why he was excited about his new character.

"But we'll get to see Simone and Archibald finally getting married, won't we?" Henrietta asked.

Frederick had introduced Archibald Mohan in second book and he'd fully intended to have him killed by the end of it but somehow, like it sometimes happened, Archibald had taken on a life of his own and had refused to die, and now two books later Archibald was as well-loved as Enid, even more so, although he was supposed to be the villain of the book.

"Who cares about Archibald?" Louisa asked her sister. "Raventell's the man; we should have a happy ending for Raventell and Enid."

"Girls," Charles interrupted his sisters who looked like they would come to blows over it, "why don't we leave the book writing to Frederick and wait for his next book?"

"Yes," Louisa smiled at him, "I heard that you're giving the Ergoen series a rest but that can't be true, can it?"

Frederick turned to Louisa, fully prepared to tell her that he was taking a break, that he wanted to write something new but he saw Anne Elliot standing by herself holding a drink in one hand.

He stared at her and couldn't remember what he had been going to say. She was wearing dark blue jeans with a white top that seemed to be floating around her body. Her hair was loose, falling softly to her shoulders in curls and waves, and he couldn't remember ever having seen anything as beautiful as her in his life.

She caught his eye and quickly looked away. Frederick bit his lip and turned to Louisa; she was holding onto his arm and he didn't know how that had happened. Usually, Frederick didn't like to be touched, but instead of pushing her away gently like he usually did, he smiled at her instead.

"You're really taking a break, aren't you?" she asked him.

"Yes," Frederick replied, "I figured it was time to take a break, to recharge the old batteries."

Sophy walked over to join them with Anne in tow.

"I know you said you met earlier," Sophy said, "when Anne picked you up but now you can be properly introduced. Frederick, this is Anne Elliot. Anne, my brother, Frederick Wentworth."

Frederick and Anne smiled tightly at each other.

"He's FJ Wentworth," Louisa added. "Can you believe it?"

"Yes," Anne replied. She knew exactly who Frederick Wentworth was.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us that your brother was FJ Wentworth," Louisa told Sophy.

Sophy smiled at the younger girl; Louisa and Henrietta had only arrived the evening before, and they'd only met Sophy and Rick that evening.

"So, you're here just to take a break?" Henrietta asked, "you're not writing another book?"

"I'm on holiday," Frederick replied, "and besides, according to Sophy, it's time I got out of the fantasy world I created and lived in the real world."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Sophy asked him.

"Why not?" Frederick laughed. "Now's as good a time as any."

"Frederick, be serious," his sister begged him.

"I'm serious," Frederick replied, "I do believe you were right, Sophy, it's time I settled down."

Sophy hugged her brother. "You don't know how happy I am to hear this. So, do you have anyone in mind?"

Frederick couldn't help himself, he stole a glance at Anne; she was staring into her glass. "No, no," he forced a laugh, "any woman of marriageable age, with a great smile and a few compliments for my work will do; I'm just a humble writer and I don't have any demands of any sort, and certainly I have no right expect any more than that."

"No right to expect anymore," Rick laughed. "What utter nonsense."

"My dear," Sophy said, "I've only been here a little while but I'll see what I can do about finding you a wife."

Louisa and Henrietta laughed.

"What's this I hear about finding a wife?" Mary asked. She'd been in the kitchen finishing up some work, but now she joined the group. "What did I miss?"

"Frederick's getting married," Charles told her.

"Congratulations," Mary told Frederick. "Is she anyone we know?"

"He doesn't know yet," Charles said.

"I see," Mary nodded. Now that Frederick Wentworth was available and in need of a wife, maybe she could convince Henrietta to give up her foolish idea of wanting to marry Chuck Hayter. She had never understood what Henrietta saw in him; he was a youth pastor at a nearby Baptist church. A pastor. He certainly wasn't good enough for anyone related to the Elliots, and she had told her husband so on numerous occasions. Charles had never taken her arguments seriously, but now that another man, and one as successful as FJ Wentworth was in the vicinity, she was going to make Henrietta see some sense.

000

Anne hadn't wanted to join in the impromptu gathering that evening, but it had been better than staying in the house with Elizabeth and Frances who had opted not to join the others – they were going to catch up on "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" instead. Her father and Mrs. Russell had driven into town for the evening.

She had stood at the periphery watching Frederick stand by himself and wondered at it. He had been shy and withdrawn when she had known him, but she'd thought that success would have made him more outgoing. She had thought of joining him, but she doubted that he would have welcomed her company – he hadn't been happy to see her earlier that day.

Louisa and Henrietta joined him and although she couldn't really hear what they were saying, she knew that they were discussing his novels. Louisa had been so excited to hear that FJ Wentworth had come to spend the summer with his sister. She loved his work, she reminded Anne, and she knew that she could offer him some inspiration for his next books.

When Sophy had joined her and insisted on introducing her to Frederick. Anne had reminded her that she'd already met him, but there was no refusing Sophy; she would make sure Anne and Frederick were properly introduced.

Anne's heart stopped for a millisecond and then went to thunder murderously when Frederick said that he was looking for a wife, and that anyone would do, she could feel his gaze on her but refused to look up. When she finally looked up she found Frederick and Louisa smiling at each other. She must have missed a bit of the conversation because suddenly she saw Louisa laughing hard, resting her hand on Frederick's chest.

000

As Anne prepared herself for bed later that evening she pulled out diary. It was such an outdated practice, keeping a diary; moreover at her age, but she consoled herself because she hadn't written in it in years. Today, however, she would write something. She needed to write something.

 _Dear diary_ , she wrote _, I saw him again today. I must confess I never thought we would meet again. I thought I was over him. I am not over him. What am I going to do?_

000


	3. Chapter 3

000

"You really should join them," Sophy insisted.

"I don't like fishing," Frederick told her.

"You've never gone fishing," Sophy reminded him, "so you can't know if you like it or not."

"Why do I have to go fishing?" Frederick asked. "Why don't you go, since you seem to like it so much?"

"First of all," Sophy reminded him, "they invited you and not me and secondly, Rick and I have to go into town, we have that appointment remember?"

He remembered, of course he did, Rick and Sophy were trying to adopt a child and they were meeting with several adoptive agencies to put down their name, but also to find out more about their workings - where they got the children from and all the other details. They had actually been on the verge of getting a newborn girl a few years ago, until the biological mother had changed her mind at the last minute. Every one of their friends was always advising them to adopt a child from Botswana or the Philippines, where it was easier apparently but Sophy had told them a number of times that were many children in England who needed parents as well. It was a sensitive subject for Sophy; the tests they had carried out had shown that it was actually her who had the problem, and Frederick was sorry that he hadn't remembered.

"What time did Charles say again?" he asked instead.

"Around nine-ish," Sophy told him, "he said he'd pick you up."

Frederick rubbed his eyes and closed his laptop. "I'll walk to their house," he told Sophy, "it's nearer the lake and the walk will give me the chance to see those gardens you were gushing about and clear my head."

"Good."

"I hope it goes well," he said as he kissed her goodbye.

"It's just a scouting meeting," Sophy told him, "of course it will go well. You, have fun."

000

"I can't believe that was FJ Wentworth," Mary said. "He seems so ordinary."

"You thought he'd be walking on air?" Charles teased his wife.

"Of course not," Mary replied, "I thought he'd at least look rich. He is rich, isn't he?"

"He's worth millions," Charles told her, "but what do you mean, 'he'd look rich'? He doesn't look half bad."

"He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt."

"So was I," Charles said, "in fact most of us were."

"That's my point," Mary said, "he's richer than all of us, he should dress the part."

Charles let that slide he wasn't going to get into another argument with Mary about the habits of rich people.

"What time are you picking him up?" Mary asked her.

"I told them nine," Charles said, "I'll walk over a few minutes after nine."

"What?" Mary was incredulous. "You have to leave early, lest he think you're a lousy timekeeper."

"What does it matter?" Charles asked her, "We're just going fishing down at the lake."

"It matters what people think," Mary told him, "you don't want to be dismissed as unimportant, do you?"

"He wouldn't dismiss me as unimportant," Charles argued, "he didn't strike me as someone who cares about stuff like that."

Mary was about to answer when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it, my dear, it's probably him."

"Mary, it's barely eight o'clock." Charles protested but Mary waved him off and hurried to the door.

"Oh, it's you," she told her sister.

"Good morning Mary," Anne told her, "we're supposed to be going into town today, remember?"

"Oh," Mary touched her forehead, "that was today, wasn't it?"

"Yes it is," Anne replied, "you said that we should leave early to get the best produce."

"I know what I said," Mary told her, "but we can't do it today."

"Why not?" Anne asked; she had changed her whole schedule to fit in Mary's trip.

"Charles invited Frederick to go fishing with him," Mary told her.

"What has that got to with us?" Anne asked her. Charles hadn't been part of the plan.

"I'm going with them," Mary said.

"Why?" Anne was puzzled. "You don't like fishing."

"No I don't," Mary agreed, "but I do want to spend time with my husband, outside the kitchen and our home, that is."

Anne would have rolled her eyes if she thought Mary would even care but she contented herself with staring at her sister.

"Okay, look," Mary said, "after you left the pool last night, we got to talking."

"About what?"

"Fine, fine, Charles thinks that Frederick is interested in Louisa, but I think he's interested in Henrietta." Anne straightened herself against the bookshelf, thanking God that Mary wasn't observant at all. Of course Frederick was interested in one of the Musgrove girls, she'd seen it herself at the pool the evening before, and still she couldn't stop the sunken feeling that was taking over her body. He had said himself that he was looking for wife, and Louisa and Henrietta certainly fit the bill – they were young, good-looking and liked his books.

"Mary, Henrietta is engaged to Chuck," Anne reminded her patiently.

"He's just a youth pastor," Mary said, "and engagements are not set in stone, the can be broken when a better man comes along."

"Really?"

"Okay, that's not what I meant," Mary said, "it's just that I think Frederick would be a much better match for Henrietta."

"And I suppose he has no choice in the matter?"

"Of course he has a choice," Mary replied, "and I think it's Henrietta."

"So our trip to town is off then?" Anne asked.

"We can do it tomorrow," Mary said. "Why don't you join us? It will be fun."

"I don't like fishing either," Anne told her.

"Yes, but it will give you a chance to walk through the woods," Mary said, "you're always saying you never get to do that and you could check out the trails, you know, make sure the Wilsons did their job properly."

Anne shook her head at her sister, Mary was so sneaky; Anne had been talking about going through the trails for a week, but she had never seemed to find the time to do it – something more urgent always came up - trust Mary to use that to her advantage.

"You have no excuse," Mary pressed her point. "You were going into town with me so I know that you have nothing else lined up." Mary's shopping trips always took hours, and it was safer to have no other plans on that day because chances were you would never get anything else done.

"Also, Louisa and Henrietta are coming as well," Mary said, smiling widely, "so we'll get a chance to see who Frederick really likes."

Anne followed her sister to the kitchen where Charles was laying out breakfast. "Good morning Anne," he greeted her; "I see my wife has talked you into joining us."

"You know how she is," Anne said.

"Yes I do," Charles replied. Mary drove him completely mad at times, but somehow he really did love her.

"I'm right here," Mary informed them.

000

"I told you he'd walk over," Mary told Charles triumphantly. They had seen Frederick walk towards their cottage from the kitchen.

"Come in," Charles opened the back door.

"Sorry to barge in like this," Frederick apologised, "you said you'd pick me up, but I fancied a walk so here I am, I hope I'm not too early."

"Nonsense," Charles laughed. "You're in time to join us for breakfast."

Frederick refused the bacon and eggs and asked for a cup of black tea instead.

"We're waiting for my sisters to drag their lazy bones in here and then we'll be off," Charles said.

"They like to fish as well?" Frederick asked. He had imagined that it would a quiet trip with only Charles.

"No, no," Charles said, "but they showed an interest in joining us and I'm all for any activity, especially outdoors, that will get them up before ten."

"I see."

Mary went upstairs to give the nanny some last minutes about little Charles, while Charles went to get Louisa and Henrietta leaving Anne and Frederick in the room alone. Anne busied herself with clearing the table and after that was done she sat back down willing Mary and Charles to return to the kitchen.

"Are you going fishing as well?" Frederick asked her.

"No, I'm going to check the trails in the woods," Anne replied.

"Okay."

"I didn't know that you liked fishing," she said. She couldn't let silence fill the room.

"I don't," he smiled wryly.

"You couldn't say no to Charles," she concluded.

"To Sophy actually," he corrected her. "She says that I need to get out more and meet people."

"I imagine being a writer can be lonely at times," she said.

"Not really," he said, "well, the actual writing maybe lonely but when I'm doing research I meet a lot of people."

"That's good."

Frederick willed himself to come up with things to say, but his mind was surprisingly blank.

"Good morning, Freddie," Louisa sailed into the kitchen. Frederick quickly stood up and took a step back.

"Good morning," he told her.

"Hi, Anne," Louisa said. She walked over to Frederick and looped her arm in his. "Let's go, they'll catch up with us."

000

 **Thanks Miriam1 for all your help.**


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks Miriam1 for all your help.

thanks for reading and reviewing.

000

Frederick could honestly say, after twenty minutes of putting his line in the water, that fishing wasn't for him. He simply didn't have the patience for it; Charles, on the other hand was going on about the best spots at which to get trout and … Luckily for him, Mary soon got bored and said so in no uncertain terms.

"Charles, dear," she said, "there are simply no fish to be caught today, why don't you say we stop and go back home?"

"No way," Charles replied, "it's early yet and I intend to catch some fish, don't you Frederick? You go back if you're tired."

"We're not tired," Louisa said at once, "but surely Frederick will think we're boring if we continue at this with no results." She was put out because she couldn't join them in the lake – Charles had only brought gear for two.

"Why don't we ask Frederick if he wants to stop?" Charles suggested.

Frederick sighed in relief when Mary said, "Of course he'll say no, it's the polite thing to do."

"Besides," Louisa pointed out, "since we're so near Chuck's home, we should go and pay him a visit."

Charles had been about to refuse, but when he thought about it, he agreed, it would be good to see Chuck, to remind Mary that Henrietta was engaged and therefore couldn't be interested in Frederick Wentworth.

"I'm sorry, Frederick," Charles told him, "but I think we'll have to cut short our fishing today."

"That's okay," Frederick said, "I'm sure we'll have better luck next time."

"Of course," Charles agreed, "but Louisa has brought up a fair point." He then proceeded to inform Frederick of Henrietta's engagement to Chuck Hayter. They were not really engaged, _per se_ , but they would be as soon as he proposed. Chuck had been named as the sole heir to his uncle's fortune and estate but was waiting for the debts and mortgages to be paid out – then he would know he much he was worth, and if it was enough he would take a wife.

"He's a sensible man," Frederick said.

"Too cautious, if you ask me," Charles said. "Uncle Mortimer was rich, and in spite of all those debts, the money left over should be enough, and it's not as if Chuck doesn't have a job. Henrietta is also going to find work soon, and they should be able to manage on that."

Frederick didn't comment about that. Instead, he asked, "Does he live nearby?"

"It's a little ways," Charles said. "We have to cross the lake and get off the Elliot property, and then we'll find his house."

"I hope you like walking, Freddie," Louisa joined them.

"I do," Frederick said.

"I do wish you had said that we would be walking to Chuck's house," Mary complained. "I don't know if I'm up for the walk."

"We'll walk slowly," Charles insisted, "And Chuck will drive us back if necessary."

"Still," Mary said, "we don't all need to visit him, do we?"

"We're halfway there," Charles told her, and he went and took her arm in his. "It will be fun." There was no way he was letting Mary get out of the visit.

"What about Anne?" Frederick asked. He couldn't believe the words were coming out of his mouth, but he wondered if they were going to leave her in the woods alone.

"Hetty," Charles told his sister, "go and get Anne."

They waited until Henrietta and Anne got out of the woods and began their journey to Chuck Hayter's home. Charles walked in front with Mary and Henrietta, Frederick and Louisa followed behind, while Anne was trailing quite far behind them.

"You've known Anne long?" Frederick couldn't help asking Louisa.

"Yes," Louisa said, "Charles actually used to date her before he married Mary."

"Really?" He tried to picture Anne and Charles dating but failed.

"Yeah, it was only a few dates, granted," Louisa said, "but we were all actually kind of hoping that he would marry her."

"They were on the point of marriage then?"

"Well, Charles was," Louisa admitted, "but Anne wasn't quite there, you know."

"She wasn't, uh?" Frederick wanted to shake answers out of her, but he asked instead, "She didn't want to marry him, then?"

"Anne has this very good friend, Mrs. Russell; I don't know if you've met her yet, anyway, she's like a mother to her or something like that, apparently she didn't think that Charles was good enough for Anne."

"But he was good enough for Mary?" Frederick couldn't help asking.

"Okay, I think I should tell you the story properly," Louisa said. "So Charles really liked Anne, and he was sort of leaning towards asking her to marry him, but Anne wasn't too keen. I'm not so sure, but I heard somewhere that Mrs. Russell had something to do with it. Anyway, Charles came by to see Anne, and then he met Mary, and according to him, it was love at first sight."

"Wow," Frederick said. "How did Anne take it?"

"Like I said, we heard rumours that she would have turned him down anyway, but they're really good friends, and inspite of Mary's idiocrasies and airs, she and Charles are quite happy."

"When did this happen?"

"Oh, about seven years ago," Louisa said. "Poor Anne."

"Poor Anne?"

"Well, her time's run out hasn't it?" Louisa asked. She said without any malice at all. "I doubt she'll ever marry now."

"Haven't things changed?" Frederick asked. "Don't people get married later, nowadays?"

"Things have changed," Louisa agreed, "but I read on the internet that if you haven't met anyone by the time you're twenty-two then you'll never meet anyone. That's why I'm working really hard to meet someone. I'll be turning twenty-one soon, and then I'll be out of time."

"You must think that there's no hope for me, then," Frederick joked, "I'm over thirty."

"You're a man," Louisa pointed out. "It's different for men, but poor Anne is almost thirty."

"Maybe things will work out differently for her," Frederick said. "Like the exception to the rule, or something like that."

"One can hope," Louisa said, "but I doubt it; she's always here, working. She doesn't have time to meet any people."

Anne heard some of that conversation, and when she could stand it no more, she began to hum to herself to drown out their voices. She hated being an object of pity; she was happy with her life, okay, she had been happy with her life until Frederick came back waltzing in, all seemingly single and available. Why couldn't she move on from him? Why couldn't she meet a nice man and settle down? Maybe Louisa was right, maybe she needed to get away from her family and start a new life elsewhere, which would certainly increase her chances of meeting new people.

Anne was so taken up with her thoughts that she didn't know that she had tripped over a root until she felt herself being carried in someone's arms. She heard somebody shout her name and heard footsteps and more voices move towards her, but all she could see was that Frederick was holding her in his arms, looking at her with concern. "Are you alright?" he asked her urgently, and she nodded. "I'm alright," she murmured.

000

Frederick had been listening absently to Louisa chatter. After talking about Anne, he had realised that she was close enough to be have heard them, and ashamed of his actions, he had changed the subject, asking Louisa to tell him about her favourite books. The talk had naturally enough drifted to the Ergoen series and Enid Thatchit, and Frederick had let his mind wander on.

As they walked on, Frederick saw Anne trip over the overgrown root from the corner of his eye and rushed to her side; he needed to get to her before she hit her head. He cradled her in his arms and would have taken the time to check her over to see if she was fine, but he didn't; as it was, it was a miracle no one wondered how he'd been able to get to her side so quickly when he was walking ahead of her.

"Let us rest awhile," Mary suggested. She really had no wish to see Chuck Hayter, today or ever really, "and then take Anne back."

"Chuck's house is just down the path," Charles pointed out, "I'll call him and tell him what has happened, and we'll rest awhile and the walk over, and he'll drive us back home." Charles discovered to his dismay that he had left his mobile phone at home. In fact the only person who had one on them was Mary, but she wasn't going to admit to having carried hers when nobody else had.

When they all would have sat down, Anne told them, "Let me just stay here and wait until you get the car."

"You'll still need to walk to the road," Henrietta said.

"But she would have rested a bit," Mary said.

"Why don't Charles and Henrietta go to Chuck's house," Louisa suggested, "and find out if he's there. Tell him what's happened, the rest of us will join you slowly."

Everyone seemed to see the wisdom of the plan, but as soon as Charles and Henrietta had disappeared, Anne stood up slowly. Mary offered her sister her arm, but seeing how awkward their movements were, Frederick went over and took Anne's arm in his.

"Thank you," Anne whispered, surprised.

"Why don't we just wait until Chuck's car gets here?" Mary asked.

"The car can't get up here," Louisa reminded her, "we still have to get onto the road."

"Fine." Mary was cross. She almost wished that she hadn't come on the whole fishing trip.

Chuck was at home, but unfortunately, his car wasn't. He had lent it to some youth in the church; however Charles had already called Billy to come and get Anne.

"I'll wait outside," Anne said, "it'll be easier."

"I'll wait with you," Charles offered.

"No, you go in," Anne insisted, sitting on the chair Chuck had provided. "I don't want to spoil your visit."

000


End file.
